Davey earns first preseason honor

Micah Davey has picked up his first big preseason honor.

McNeese State’s junior linebacker was named first-team All-American by FCS Football Central Monday.

It is no doubt far from the last preseason team the Cowboy tackling machine will make this summer.

Davey is coming off a season that saw him make six All-American teams last year and finish seventh in the voting for the Buck Buchanan Award. The Buchanan is awarded to the best defensive player on the FCS level.

Davey was a star on a McNeese defense that struggled throughout the year. He led FCS in total tackles with 153, 15.3 a game, which was also tops in the nation, and set a McNeese record.

He also averaged 8.3 solo tackles and an outing to lead the country in a third category.

The Baton Rouge native and son of former LSU and NFL quarterback Rohan Davey, recorded 10 or more tackles in each of the Cowboys’ 10 games. He became the first McNeese player to record 20 or more tackles in back-to-back games, finishing the season with 20 against Houston Christian and a career-best 21 in the finale at Lamar.

“He had a great season,” McNeese head coach Gary Goff said. “He was all over the field making tackles. He is not going to miss a tackle.”

Davey returns to McNeese despite the Cowboys finishing just 1-10 instead of entering the transfer portal and checking out his options.

Davey burst onto the scene as a redshirt rookie in 2022, when he was named a Freshman All-American. He enters this season with 221 career tackles. In May he was named the best returning linebacker in FCS by Hero Sports.

Coming off a knee injury that slowed him during spring drills, Davey is expected to be fully healthy when the Cowboys open camp next week.